Written Answers

Wednesday 11 October 2000

Scottish Executive

Charity Shops

Nick Johnston (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any proposals to review charity shops’ exemption from business rates and what assessment has been made of any impact this exemption has on other existing businesses.

Mr Jack McConnell: In 1999, HM Treasury published a consultation paper entitled Review of Charity Taxation dealing with many aspects of the tax system as it affects charities, including rates relief for charity shops. The principle of rate relief for charity shops remains but the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions is preparing a consultation document focussing on aspects of definition and guidance for issue later this year. The Executive will have regard to the position and will consider whether similar action should be taken in Scotland.

Charity Shops

Nick Johnston (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there is any loss of income to it and local authorities through business rate rebates to charity shops and, if so, what the amount of any such loss has been in each of the past five years.

Mr Jack McConnell: Rates relief for charity shops is a statutory requirement under the Local Government (Financial Provisions etc)(Scotland) Act 1962, as amended. Information in respect of numbers of charity shops or rateable values is not held centrally.

Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any evidence of new variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease ever being passed on as a result of blood transfusion.

Susan Deacon: No. However, as announced by the then Health Minister Sam Galbraith in August 1998, significant action is already being taken to reduce the theoretical and unquantifiable risk of transmitting variant CJD through the blood supply:

  on the advice of Spongiform Encephalophalogy Advisory Committee (SEAC) all blood for transfusion has the white cells removed through a process called leucodepletion. This is because current research indicates that infectivity from transmissible spongiform encephalopathies appears to be mainly linked to white blood cells;

  on the advice of the Committee on the Safety of Medicines all blood products used in the UK are made from imported plasma from countries where there is no evidence of variant CJD.

Digital Technology

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its strategy is for the funding of improvements to take advantage of the new economy, in particular to widen access to high speed data services such as Integrated Services Digital Network and Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line.

Henry McLeish: I refer Mr Ewing to the answer I gave in response to oral question S1O-2316 on 28 September.

Digital Technology

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will encourage public sector take-up of communications systems such as Integrated Services Digital Network and Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line and what the potential cost of such take-up might be.

Peter Peacock: Many public sector bodies already make extensive use of high speed communications links to facilitate dealings with the public and businesses; to provide access to information sources on intranets and the world wide web; and to speed up internal public sector processes. It is a matter for individual public bodies to decide whether such communication services represent an appropriate investment for them. The Executive’s response to the Digital Scotland report made clear that where public sector investment in communication services is taking place we are keen to see closer collaboration between the public sector bodies involved where this will help to reduce costs or improve services.

  The Scottish Executive has been connected to broadband services through the Government Secure Intranet (GSI) for two years, and has had active discussions with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities and individual local authorities about the possibility of their organisations joining the GSI.

  The Higher Education sector already has communications links with capacity many times larger than ADSL or ISDN can provide. All Scottish Further Education colleges will have high capacity communication links by April 2001. Over half of all Scottish secondary schools and nearly 40% of primaries are already using ISDN communications. PricewaterhouseCoopers are concluding an investigation for the Scottish Executive into how broadband communications will be provided to all Scottish schools.

  The total current and projected future costs of high-speed communications services for the public sector are not held centrally.

Dyspraxia

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the statement by the Deputy Minister for Health and Community Care (25 May 2000, Col. 1198) which refers to the 97 research projects currently taking place on dyspraxia, (a) what aspects of dyspraxia are being studied, (b) which institutions and academics are carrying out the research, (c) what funding has been made available by the Scottish Executive for research and (d) what are the dates for completion and publication of the research projects.

Susan Deacon: Details of the 97 projects on dyspraxia   which are currently taking place in the UK are available from the National Research Register (NRR), a copy of which is in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (SPICe).

  The Scottish Executive has received no research proposals of a sufficiently high standard on dyspraxia recently and therefore does not directly fund research into this illness at present. However, the Chief Scientist Office (which co-operates fully with UK-wide research) would be pleased to receive research applications in the future.

Finance

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money from the UK reserve was added to the Scottish budget in each year since 1979; how many applications it has made to draw money from the UK reserve; if any such applications have been made, what amount was requested in each case and which applications were successful.

Mr Jack McConnell: I refer you to question S1W-5433 which provides details of the additional resources allocated to the Scottish budget from the UK Reserve since 1 July 1999. In addition, the Scottish Budget will increase by £288.3 million in 2000-01 as a result of Scotland’s share of the Chancellor’s pre-budget announcements. This funding will be met from the UK Reserve.

  The rules governing access by the devolved administrations to the UK Reserve are set out in the Statement of Funding Policy. A revised version of this was published by HM Treasury on 18 July 2000. A copy of the publication can be found on the HM Treasury Internet site at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/pdf/2000/sfp4.pdf.

Forensic Science

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what recognition it intends to give to the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners.

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what effect the setting up of the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners will have on Scottish courts.

Mr Jim Wallace: We welcome the establishment of the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners, which we expect to promote and maintain high standards of competence, practice, discipline and ethics amongst forensic science practitioners. The effect the council will have on forensic science in Scotland is being considered through the Standing Committee on Forensic Science in Scotland. The Scottish Executive is also considering what effect the establishment will have, more generally, on the Scottish criminal justice system.

Health

Euan Robson (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-6777 by Susan Deacon on 9 June 2000, what progress has been made on developing a national leaflet to provide advice to schools and parents on the treatment of headlice and when the leaflet will be published.

Susan Deacon: The development of a national leaflet on headlice will be taken forward later this year.

Health

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what studies have been commissioned and/or undertaken concerning links between malnutrition and poverty since June 1999.

Susan Deacon: The Chief Scientist Office is currently funding eight projects relating to nutrition and details of these are available on the National Research Register (NRR), a copy of which is in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe).

Justice

Mrs Lyndsay McIntosh (Central Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when Scotland will have implemented all the recommendations of the report R(85)11 The Position of the Victim in the Framework of Criminal Law and Procedure, published by the European Committee on Crime Problems in 1985.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive recognises the important role which victims play in our criminal justice system and is committed to a policy which ensures that they have access to the support, information, protection and redress which they need. Recent announcements on the establishment of a victim and witness service in the Crown Office, and on our future plans for support services provide clear evidence of the priority which we attach to these matters. The Scottish Executive has already met many of the recommendations in the report R (85) 11 and we are taking its principles fully into account in the development of our overarching strategy for victims.

Justice

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will investigate concerns about the lack of availability of a transcript of proceedings in the forthcoming hearing in relation to the Lord Advocate’s reference made in respect of the Trident case ruling by Sheriff Gimblett in October 1999.

Colin Boyd QC: The extent to which the proceedings should be transcribed has been considered by the High Court of Justiciary on three occasions. The transcripts which are available are those ordered by that Court and which it considers necessary for its consideration of the Reference.

Ministerial Correspondence

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will answer my letter dated 4 February 2000 to the Minister for Health and Community Care on the subject of health expenditure and what the reason was for the delay.

Susan Deacon: A reply was sent on 30 September. The issues raised in relation to the percentage of GDP spend on health in Scotland compared with the European average have taken some time to resolve.

NHS Staff

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it proposes to take in relation to violence against NHS staff.

Susan Deacon: The Occupational Health and Safety Strategy Towards a Safer Healthier Workplace committed the NHSiS to provide a safe working environment for staff based on risk assessment. To back that up the Scottish Executive made £0.5 million available to the NHSiS for the introduction of safety and security measures, such as the provision of access to mobile phones for community nurses, midwives and health visitors. A guideline and model policy, prepared under the auspices of the Scottish Partnership Forum, on Dignity at Work: Eliminating Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace has recently been issued for consultation and can be seen at the website, www.show.scot.nhs.uk/spf/. This is expected to be published this autumn   and will be recommended for use across the NHS in Scotland, including the wider NHS, such as   GP Practices. Work will begin shortly on further guidance covering Employee Health at Work which will include personal safety and a model policy for the management of violence and aggression. Occupational health minimum datasets which NHSiS Trusts and health boards will be required to collect and publish are also in preparation and data on violence against staff will feature in these.

  In addition, in July new Regulations came into force to help GPs, health boards and Primary Care Trusts to cope with violent patients. Previously boards and Trusts did not have the power to direct patients to doctors who are geared to dealing with them. Now, as a result of the National Health Service (Choice of Medical Practitioner) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2000, when assigning violent patients to a GP, health boards and Trusts must take into account which GP is best placed to deal with the patient. The Regulations open the way for boards and Trusts to work with GPs to ensure that treatment is provided at appropriate premises.

Nursing

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the target number of nurses to be trained in prescribing a limited range of medicines is by the end of 2001.

Susan Deacon: By the end of 2001, 2,941 nurses should have been trained in prescribing a limited range of medicines.

Prison Service

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-5668 by Mr Jim Wallace on 7 September 2000, whether information contained in the review relating to medical records and patient statistics is commercially confidential information and, if not, how such information can be obtained.

Mr Jim Wallace: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  There is no information contained in the review that relates to medical records or patient statistics.

Roads

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current position is regarding the proposed improvements at the Inchmichael junction on the A90.

Sarah Boyack: The contract for the construction of the Inchmichael Interchange is to be awarded today. This forms part of the Executive’s ongoing programme to improve safety on this important strategic route.